Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Price Target Cut to $305.00 by Analysts at Guggenheim

Key Points

• Guggenheim has lowered its price target for Accenture from $335.00 to $305.00, while maintaining a "buy" rating, indicating a potential 25.65% upside from the company's previous close.
• Accenture's most recent quarterly earnings showcased an EPS of $3.49, surpassing analysts' estimates and reflecting a 7.7% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Insider trading reports indicate that Accenture's CEO recently sold 500 shares, representing a significant 17.97% decrease in their ownership stake in the company.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Guggenheim from $335.00 to $305.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the information technology services provider's stock. Guggenheim's target price would suggest a potential upside of 26.74% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ACN. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Accenture from $372.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. HSBC started coverage on Accenture in a report on Monday, July 28th. They set a "reduce" rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Accenture from $342.00 to $313.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $335.39.

Accenture Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of ACN traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $240.65. 11,449,719 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,980,534. The company has a market cap of $150.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.29. Accenture has a 52 week low of $234.18 and a 52 week high of $398.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $257.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. Accenture had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Accenture will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at $644,582.22. This represents a 17.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $57,315.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,482,002.66. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,954 shares of company stock worth $834,280 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Accenture

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

About Accenture

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.